Manu Samoa hooker Ray Niuia scores hat-trick to beat Tonga 34-18

APIA, SAMOA – 09 JULY 2022: Manu Samoa hooker Ray Niuia scored three tries from lineout drives as Samoa rallied from 18-3 down in the first half to beat Tonga 34-18 and stay unbeaten after two rounds of the Pacific Nations Cup.

Niuia’s third try gave Samoa their first lead in the match after 52 minutes and an intercept try by centre Tumua Manu on debut helped seal Samoa’s win. Backrower Theo McFarland completed a five-try turnaround with a try in the 76th minute at Churchill Park, Lautoka, Fiji.

Samoa expected a tough challenge from their traditional rivals and Tonga rocked Samoa with a bold first-half performance in which they scored their first two tries of the tournament.

Ray Niuia scored the first of his hat-trick of tries just before half-time as Samoa found a foothold in the match through the proficiency of their lineout and set piece.

The powerful hooker scored again in the 45th and 52nd minutes of the second half, while Tonga was down to 14 men with Poloniati in the sin-bin.

“Full credit to Tonga. When we previewed them we knew exactly what they were going to come with in the first 20,” Samoa captain Michael Ala’alatoa said. “We were too slow out of the box and we let them get their game going.

“Credit to our boys. We went back to our set piece and our set piece was working well for us. Our lineout drive was something we backed for the whole game and we got our momentum back.”

Ala’alatoa said the Samoa coaches delivered a stern half-time message to the players to pull themselves together and play with more focus.

“In that first 20 we had our heads in our hands,” he said. “We were dwelling on the mistakes we made in the past. We had to be in the moment, focus on what’s in front of us and when we did that we played really well.”